Baldur's Gate 3: All core stats explained

The stats in Baldur's Gate 3 will feel familiar to long-time Dungeons & Dragons players. However, not everyone playing the game has the same amount of time in the classic tabletop roleplaying game franchise. For those who might not know what the stats do exactly, we’re here to help. Whether players call them attributes or ability scores, each does something important.

The stats in this game won't be equally important for every character class in the game. Depending on what you want to do, each attribute could mean more or less to your situation. If you’re curious about what they mean and which classes benefit from them, we’ve got you covered.

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What do the stats in Baldur's Gate 3 stand for?

As you can see on the right, each character has 6 attributes (Image via Larian Studios)

As is tradition in Dungeons & Dragons, Baldur's Gate 3 uses the same familiar six stats. Each one has a different purpose and is connected to particular skills within the game. Below is a briefing on what each stat means in the game. However, you don’t need to understand D&D to play this game.

Base stat purposes in BG3

• Strength: Physical strength, dealing raw physical damage
• Dexterity: Agility, reflexes, balance, and initiative
• Constitution: Stamina, health, toughness
• Intelligence: Mental acumen, reasoning, recalling useful information
• Wisdom: Intuition, perception, real-world application of information
• Charisma: Interacting with others, eloquence, confidence, force of personality

Each class in the game needs specific stats to be efficient, and we have a handy guide to help you figure out what is right for you.

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Character class primary stats in Baldur's Gate 3

Each character class has skills and attributes that it excels with (Image via Larian Studios)

When it comes to the classes in Baldur's Gate 3, each has a particular stat focus. However, some classes will vary. Clerics, for example, will likely go either Wis/Str or Wis/Dex, depending on what Domain and weapons they choose. Light Domain Clerics are a good example of this.

Typically, you’ll want to start with a 16 in your primary ability score, and you can get to 20 by the time the game ends. Another example is the Paladin class, which needs high Charisma and typically wants high strength.

Character classes’ primary attributes

• Fighter: Strength, Constitution
• Rogue: Dexterity, Intelligence
• Cleric: Wisdom, Strength/Dex (depending on build)
• Ranger: Dexterity, Constitution/Wisdom
• Wizard: Intelligence
• Sorcerer: Charisma, Constitution
• Paladin: Strength, Charisma
• Barbarian: Strength, Constitution
• Bard: Charisma, Dexterity
• Monk: Dexterity, Wisdom
• Druid: Wisdom
• Warlock: Warlock

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Character stats and which skills they correspond with in Baldur's Gate 3

Skill checks are a common occurrence in this game (Image via Larian Studios)

Each of these stats also corresponds to particular in-game skill checks. You will roll a d20 for these and add whatever your total skill point total is for various in-game purposes. However, Constitution is the only stat not aligned with a particular ability score.

That said, there are still times when you’ll need to roll for Constitution. Some examples are going without rest, surviving without food and water, or holding your breath underwater (or elsewhere). The below list isn’t the only time you’ll need to make skill checks that require your ability scores, either. These are just skill checks to keep in mind for general gameplay.

Ability scores and their corresponding skills

• Strength: Athletics
• Dexterity: Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, Stealth
• Constitution: N/A
• Intelligence: Arcana, History, Investigation, Nature, Religion
• Wisdom: Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, Survival
• Charisma: Deception, Intimidation, Performance, Persuasion

The tomato won't steer you wrong in D&D or Baldur's Gate 3 (Image via Reddit)

The Dungeons & Dragons community has developed a meme that helps players easily understand what the ability scores in the game mean. It also applies to Baldur's Gate 3. Uses of a tomato, as seen above, are an excellent way to remember which stat does what.

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The stats in Baldur's Gate 3 are easy enough to understand. There are several ways to enhance these, whether through feats or items, and they are the basis of performing any particular action within Larian Studios’ latest roleplaying game. You can find our tier list for each character class here.